40,000 New Taxis

A total of 40,000 new taxis replaced dilapidated ones in the country during an official inauguration ceremony on Saturday in Tehran. Under a program, taxi owners can exchange their vehicles for a newer model with financial support from the producer Iran Khodro (IKCO), the main domestic automaker based in Tehran. In cooperation with several banks including Mellat, Parsian and Tejarat, taxi owners willing to change their vehicles were offered loans to the tune of 200 million rials ($5,500) at 23% interest, 7% of which will be covered by the IKCO. So far, 9,400 taxis were released to owners in Tehran. Most applicants for the exchange deal were from Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Karaj, Shahriar, and Qom, state television reported on Saturday.